Two railroads to Stalingrad
to supply the German 6th Army and the Romanian 3rd, the 4th Panzer Army and the Romanian 4th Army

Two main railroads were used to bring troops, food, material and other supply to the fighting forces in and around Stalingrad.

The end-station of the Western railway was Gumrak railway station (near Stalingrad) to supply the German 6th Army and the 3rd Romanian Army. The end-station of the Southern railway was Tinguta railway station (near Stalingrad) to supply the 4th Panzer Army and the 4th Romanian Army.

The Western railway :

Gorlovka - Likhovskoy - Morozovsk - Tchir - Gumrak (map below - red circles)

The Rail Line from the West stopped at the Don River as the main bridge had been destroyed. Then supplies were transported on the road, truck or wagon, to Kalach to cross the Don. (red line on the map below) Then supplies were loaded onto captured Russian Trains for the 64 km or 40 mile journey to the Stalingrad Area. This rail line/Supply route directly supplied the German 6th Army and the 3rd Romanian Army in the Stalingrad area.

The book Survivors of Stalingrad  by Reinhold Busch has an eyewitness account of Joachim Feurich :

Page 35-36
 

”On 23 October we finally arrived at our destination and de-trained at Tchir on the Don. This is where the railway line to Stalingrad ended, the final section having been destroyed at Tchir.” Then later on, walking….”we set off. With a zest for action we reached Kalatch, got into a waiting ammunition train – and headed for Stalingrad. Pioneers had restored the railway line from here: it was single-track. Then…”Towards evening we reached Gumrak, the last station before Stalingrad: here the railway line ended“ 


 Quote from an interesting newly released book "The 64th Army at Stalingrad 1942-43" by Dann Falk

 

Page 156

 

Fighting at Stalingrad was largely being supplied by a single rail line starting far to the west, at a rail junction located on the western side of the Donets River near the town of Lichaja. This single rail line, capable of supporting a maximum of 12 pairs of trains a day, first had to cross the newly repaired Donets River Bridge which was about 244 meter or 800 feet long.

 

Then the rail line traveled east another 130 miles or 210 km  to the Chir River area. Because the Russians had completely destroyed the 2,500-foot or 762 meter long rail bridge over the Don during the fall, the rail head was located at the Tschir station about 16 km or 10 miles short of the Don. At this point all supplies were unloaded and transferred to trucks or horse drawn wagons. The supplies were then driven northeast about  38 km or  24 miles to a pontoon bridge over the Don and on to the village of Kalach. (red line on the map below) At the Kalach station, supplies were now loaded onto captured Russian trains running on a section of restored Russian Broad-Gauge track. These trains covered the last 64 km or 40 miles to the 6th Army in the Stalingrad area where they were unloaded. This entire transportation route was time consuming, inefficient and lacked sufficient carrying capacity.

The Southern railway :

Rostov - Salsk - Kotelnikovskiy - Tinguta (map below - green circles)

 

The Southern line crossed the Don at Rostov and came up from the south. This rail line was used to supply the 4th Panzer Army and the Romanian 4th Army South of Stalingrad.

The second rail route to the area south of Stalingrad originated at the city of Rostov located at the mouth of the Don River. This rail line then traveled south of the Don via Kotelnikovo and then on to the front south of Stalingrad. This line could handle some 4 to 5 pairs of trains per day and delivered supplies directly to the 4th Panzer Army and the 4th Romanian Army."

 

Again a quote from an interesting newly released book "The 64th Army at Stalingrad 1942-43" by Dann Falk
.

Page 157

 

"Because of these railroad limitations and other issues, the Germans and their Allies were barely supplied at Stalingrad. Bombs and bullets were reaching the front in adequate amounts, but food, clothing, POL, spare parts and a host of other supplies were lacking. During the summer months, minor deficiencies were not too difficult to overlook, but with the oncoming winter, and the unrelenting combat, things would only get worse. The lack of proper provisioning and logistical planning had an increasingly negative influence upon the German’s conduct of the battle. Of special note, the German 6th Army was forced to send the bulk of its horses away from the front for the winter due to the inability to bring forward adequate supplies of fodder. Without these horses, most of the German infantry formations became largely immobile. This is not much of a problem as long as the front line remains static, but if mobile operations were required; these same infantry formations would be forced to leave most of their heavy weapons behind and fight with greatly reduced capability and firepower."

 

 

Thanks to :


 Dann Falk "The 64th Army at Stalingrad 1942-43" Book available at Amazon.com
 Book Survivors of Stalingrad  by Reinhold Busch
Read more about the topic on : https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=203286#p1832526

Railroads to Stalingrad